Pixels

I've never been hip but at least I can say I have Hipstamatic. It's an app for the i-phone and it's adds that retro feel to photos. I love it. I did have a polariod camera and probably spent a bit too much on the film but I just like the way they looked. I preferred to the look a digital cameras. Strange but true.

So, in honour of being a Hipstamatic man, here are a few shots I've taken:

Mass

Good Friday. If you're a Christian, it's a very important day. If you're a lapsed one, it probably isn't as important. For me, it's Friday and that means the start of the weekend. A busy working week behind me.

For the past 5 months, I've made it my mission to hit the gym. I try for 4 times a week, immediately after work. On the whole I've been following that routine. Previously, I was coming home after work and basically just doing not very much until dinner time. I decided to do something instead. It's been hard to maintain the routine. There are days I just can't be bothered at all but I've forced myself to go, even if it is just long enough to break sweat.

Two days a week, I do upper body related 'stuff', the other 2 days I concentrate on lower body related 'stuff'. It's good. It helps me 'calm' down after work which given the politics at work is what I need.

Over this 5 month period, I've been weighing myself to track my progress otherwise I'd just lose interest and not bother. The results are as follows:

In early November I was 82.9kg, with a body fat estimation of fat index = 21.5% which equates to a fat mass of 17.8kg and a free fat mass of 65.1kg. My BMI was 25.6kg/m.

As of today, I am 82.2kg, with a body fat estimation of fat index = 20.2% which equates to a fat mass of 16.6kg and a free fat mass of 65.6kg. My BMI is 24.8kg/m.

What does that all mean?

I'm 700 grams lighter, have lowered my fat mass by 1.2kg and lowered my BMI by 0.8kg/m.

Perhaps it does look massively impressive but I'm not massively overweight and don't really have lots to lose. My whole aim was to get trimmer and toned and I can say that I have done that. I'm now within the 'normal' BMI range i.e. between 18.5 and 24.9kg/m.

What's next?

Next weigh in will be in about a month and I want to lower my BMI to 24.5kg/m. I'd be delighted if I can do that. I'll need to tweak my workouts in terms of the weight that I lift. Nothing major, but there are definitely areas I can increase the resistance. Let's see!

Ice Cream

Yes. Another post. Two in a week.

I bought a record player earlier this year. Actually, I got a Pro-ject Debut for my birthday (record player) which was great. I needed to get speakers and an amp to go with it. So I did. A Rotel RA-10 and B&W speakers. I don't much vinyl but the vinyl I do have sounds great. Until I bought Van Halen I. I put it on and I could only hear 'half' the sound. The guitar was distant which is awful because it's Eddie Van Halen. Since that first listen, I've been trying to play about with the speak connections. I have 4 lines of cable from each speaker which go directly to the amp. The problem is the cables don't say which is the positive one or the negative one. So it's been mostly trial and error to get this record played so that I can actually hear the album as it should be.

So, I've now got Van Halen I playing. Brilliant!

The next time I play another record, the sound will probably be 'off' and knowing my luck I'll need to switch the speaker cables again. Or perhaps I'll just keep VH I on loop forever?

It's possible.

Humming

What to do with this thing?

First post since September last year. It's now hurtling towards April 2013. A disappointing return. Life just gets in the way I suppose. Life is meant to get in the way though and what happened was meant to be recorded here for, well, the future. I can't do that if I don't write anything. It's a vicious circle. That, and I really don't have much to say.

Perhaps I'll start in the present, and if time allows, I'll fill in the past.

Still in Dubai, still in the same job. Still married, still living in the same house. Still driving the same car, still going to the gym.

Different mobile phone. Different Body Mass Index (BMI) as well, slightly down.

Not much has changed then - apart from the 'ravages of time', Christmas, New Year, trip to Bangkok and Scotland with a trip to the Seychelles planned for later in the year.

Met some interesting people in the intervening months. Bob Geldof and his band, David Haye (sort of) Bobby George, Ian Rankin, Kate Mosse, Tony Buzan. Perhaps not all interesting then.

What's happening at the moment?

Not all that much. The weekend has been a relaxing one I guess. The weather is very pleasant and I'm not long back from the swimming pool and 10 lengths. Up later is a trip to this place called 'Global Village'. It's not a village at all, instead it's a series of markets which are representative of a particular country, for example 'Turkey' has lots of Turkish 'stuff', China has a lot of knock off stuff, Pakistan has - rather surprisingly it could be said - lots of leather goods for sale. We'll be going to China for handbags I think. Not for me, clearly.

Then it'll be back to work on Sunday. Not particularly looking forward to it. In fact, I think that has been the case most of this year. I'm getting bored and can't say much is stimulating me. I go, do what I have to and get out. I'm professional enough but people and things annoy me more than they used to. Not a good sign I would say.

That'll do for the moment. Another post in 6 months? Let's hope not.